By Joseph Erunke & Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA—FORMER Vice President, Alhaji Atiku, weekend in Abuja, took a swipe at state governments for abandoning the country’s law giving permission to them to implement free education to secondary school level.

Atiku, who described education as the bedrock of any sound development in any society, regretted that the path taken by the Federal Government by enacting law enabling state governments to effect free education for school children up to secondary level, had since been jettisoned by them.

•Atiku

Disclosing that his status in the society today would not have been possible without the sound education he acquired, the former number two citizens tasked state governments to return to the drawing board in this regard, if they wanted a better future for the coming generations of Nigerians.

Speaking weekend,  in Abuja, at the grand reception in his honour in respect of his recent appointment as “Waziri of Adamawa” by Adamawa Community in Abuja, Atiku also flayed the country’s politics, urging the players to urgently fix it in proper perspective for the good of the country.

He said: “We have passed a law in this country that makes it compulsory for every child to be given free education, from primary up to secondary school level, and how many governments are complying with that law”

While noting that the elite from his home state had developed themselves through sound education, Atiku particularly tasked well meaning Adamawa sons and daughters to invest in the future of the young generation of youths in the state by giving them adequate education.

He said:  There is need for us to uphold this legacy by fixing our educational system for better human development. If there is one good thing that unifies Adamawa elite, it is that they obtained good education.  And we must continue to give our children excellent education.”

“Education helps to open doors for them in the various professions where they can distinguish and establish themselves.

‘’Education opened doors for me also as a stand before you here.  It is, therefore, imperative in my opinion that we should do everything possible to invest in education for the young people in our state

‘There’s is no reason any Adamawa child should be out of school, absolutely no reason.  Even in our days,if you did not send your child to school, you were arrested and prosecuted.

“Let us think how we can build our state, let us continue to encourage our state and local government to repair and expand our schools, to repair our roads to help our students to learn.

“The future of Adamawa State lies in the hands of its young people,we need to prepare them for that future by giving them good education so they can go out in the world and compete with the best.’’

He also urged the Adamawa State Government to   begin to think out of the box to develop the state, rather than depending on oil money and other federal government’s handouts.

“Let us as a state begin to plan our future without thinking that the federal government will be our saviour, “he said.